


Advice from Dr. Bellows

by ReleasingmyInsanity



Category: I Dream of Jeannie
Genre: F/M, Light Angst, Possibly Unrequited Love, Psychologists & Psychiatrists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27033814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReleasingmyInsanity/pseuds/ReleasingmyInsanity
Summary: After Jeannie and Tony get engaged, Roger goes to see Dr. Bellows about his feelings for Jeannie.
Relationships: Roger Healey/Jeannie
Kudos: 3





	Advice from Dr. Bellows

“Dr. Bellows? Can I talk to you?”

Alfred Bellows looked up from his paperwork to see Roger Healey standing uncomfortably in the doorway. “As a colonel or as a psychiatrist?” he asked.

“As a psychiatrist.” Major Healey looked a little nervous and fiddled with his hat.

Dr. Bellows set down his pencil. “Of course. Please sit down. What did you want to talk about? Yourself? …Or something to do with Major Nelson?”

“Kind of both,” Major Healey said as he sat down in the chair. “It’s about Jeannie really.”

That startled Dr. Bellows. “Major Nelson’s fiancée? Why do you want to talk about her? She seems like a lovely woman.”

“Oh she is. I’ve known her almost as long as Tony has. And believe me, there’s no one better for him.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Dr. Bellows asked. He was used to Major Healey behaving strangely, but what was strange about this was how normal he was being.

The major sighed. “The problem is, Sir… The problem is…I’m in love with her.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m in love with Tony’s fiancée.”

“I see. Why don’t you start from the beginning? When did you first meet Jeannie?”

“It was about five years ago now,” Major Healey said. “We sort of bumped into each other in the parking lot. And I asked her out. She wasn’t dating Tony yet. They were friends, but didn’t start dating until later.”

“So you asked her out, and what did she say?” Dr. Bellows asked.

“She said yes,” Major Healey said. “We were supposed to double date with Tony and the girl he was seeing. Jeannie was great when it was just the two of us. But when Tony and his date got there, he and Jeannie started paying more attention to each other. I suppose that should have been my first clue that it wouldn’t last.”

“So the date didn’t go well,” Dr. Bellows summarized. “Then what happened?”

“I took Jeannie out again a couple of nights later. We had a good time and kept dating. She never wanted to kiss and wasn’t very interested in going back to my place. But I figured that was just her personality. Some girls just like different things. I could live with that. And by that point I’d…Well…I’d fallen in love.”

“You fell in love with her while you were dating. Well, that’s perfectly normal. I assume the relationship ended because of her feelings for Major Nelson?” Dr. Bellows asked.

“Well, yes, but not immediately. You see sir, I had never met a woman I loved like Jeannie before. And I asked her to marry me.”

“And that’s when she broke up with you?”

“No sir, she said yes.”

Dr. Bellows raised his eyebrows. “She agreed to marry you even though she already had feelings for Major Nelson?”

“Yes. I found out later that she had only said yes to make her mother happy. I suppose it’s good that she ended things. What kind of a marriage would that have been? Me pining over Jeannie, Jeannie pining over Tony. We’d have been miserable.”

Dr. Bellows privately agreed. “How did your engagement end?”

Major Healey shrugged. “She disappeared for several weeks and when I finally saw her again she told me how she felt about Tony and that was it. Jeannie and I figured out how to still be friends and that’s what we’ve been ever since.”

“And you never told her that you still have feelings for her?”

“Not after we broke up. I mean, how could I? She fell in love with Tony at first sight and it was already clear he was crazy about her.” Major Healey studied a scratch on the desk closely. “Their happiness is more important than my feelings for Jeannie.”

“Why come to me now?” Dr. Bellows asked. “If this has been going on for nearly five years, why haven’t you talked to me sooner?”

“I dunno. I guess it’s just that for most of that time the three of us have been close. And we’ve done pretty much everything together. Now that they’re engaged, it’s like there’s part of their relationship that I can’t be a part of anymore. And I think, what if I were the one who met Jeannie first? What if I were the dashing astronaut who swept her off her feet? Maybe she’d have married me. Maybe we would have been happy together.”

“So you’re feeling left out and wondering what might have been. Those are perfectly normal feelings, Major. What do you think would help you to feel better?”

“Finally telling someone has helped quite a bit, sir.”

“That’s good to hear. Do you think it would help you at all to talk to Jeannie and Major Nelson about this?”

“Talk to Jeannie and Tony?” Major Healey repeated, sounding scandalized. “Sir, how could I tell Jeannie that I still love her when she’s engaged to my best friend? That could break up our friendship. I’d rather just have them as friends than not have them at all.”

“You know yourself and your friendships best of course,” Dr. Bellows replied gently. “But I don’t believe that either one of them would be willing to give up their friendship with you so easily. Friendships are rooted more strongly than that. And I believe that yours can stand up to a lot.”

Major Healey smiled, for the first time since he had entered the office. “Thank you, Sir. I’ll think about it.”

“You do that. And Major, I’m glad you came to talk to me.”

“I am too,” Major Healey said as he walked out of the office. Never noticing that Jeannie had until a moment before he left, been standing in the hallway, hearing every word.

**Author's Note:**

> It reads strangely to me to call Roger “Major Healey” all the way through, but since this is from Dr. Bellows’ perspective, it seemed more in character.
> 
> Poor Roger sitting on his feelings for Jeannie for five years. (And even though he doesn’t tell Dr. Bellows about them, he’s been trying to ignore his feelings for Tony for even longer.)
> 
> I am in no way a psychiatrist, and the only psychology I ever took was Psych 101 in college. But I do have experience in getting counseling, so I hope this isn’t too far away from reality.
> 
> I’m not sure what happens next, if Jeannie tells Tony what she heard. Or if she confronts Roger about his feelings. Or if Roger decides to listen to Dr. Bellows and tell them how he feels. But however it happens, they do ultimately become a triad.
> 
> Reminder to those of you in the US to vote. Tony may not have wanted to be governor, but he does want you to vote. https://www.vote.org/polling-place-locator/


End file.
